


Bootcamp

by EndlessExplorer



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Bootcamp, Came to me randomly, F/M, M/M, Military, Rookie - Freeform, new experiences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 13:26:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14403072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EndlessExplorer/pseuds/EndlessExplorer
Summary: See what happens when the next generation of Shepard's go off to join the Alliance Navy.





	Bootcamp

**Author's Note:**

> don't even ask where the idea of this fic came from, because I don't know. My brain works in mysterious ways because this was originally going to be John Shepard beck in the Academy but things happened and here we are.  
> This is a tester chapter. I want to see what people think about this idea before I contribute more time and thought processes to it, so please let me know what you think. If you hate it, or if you like it, any commentary will help.  
> Thanks again,  
> EndlessExplorer

Jack looked down at his duffel bag. Well it used to be his father’s duffel bag, but now it was Jack’s. Bringing up his Omni-tool, Jack could tell that the bus was twenty minutes late, and he sighed. If the bus didn’t hurry up, then Jack would end up missing the next ship to bootcamp.

Today was the day. Despite his mother’s complete disliking of the idea and his father’s impartial standing on the topic, Jack was going to join the Alliance Navy. Jack’s parents were heroes of the Reaper war, and when Jack’s father heard that another Shepard was going to war, it didn’t surprise him. Jack ran a hand through his raven curls and thought of his mother’s reaction to the news.

   “Why? Why do you want to go off and play soldier? I thought you wanted to see the galaxy. I didn’t know that you wanted to see it through a rifle scope.”

   “What’s the big deal?! You and dad are soldiers, what’s one more?”

   “Need I remind you that your father and I were lucky to come out of that war alive? We did fight, and yes we were soldiers, but war and conflict isn’t something that I wanted you or your sister to experience.”

Ah yes, Silvia. Silvia Shepard, politician, councillor, and all-round pain in the ass. Jack could remember his uncle Garrus’ reaction when he found out that a Shepard was going into politics. Garrus had to pick his jaw up off the floor. When Silvia managed to become the human councillor, he almost fainted. Silvia was seven years older than Jack and a powerful biotic like her mother. Like Miranda, Silvia’s intellect and her tongue were her strongest weapons and in any council meeting, that fact was very clear. At only twenty-six, Silvia was also the youngest council member ever, but that was a hard record to beat since her father’s mentor, Admiral David Anderson, had held the position up until his death almost two decades earlier. Silvia’s father had been the unofficial councillor up until his Silvia was officially voted in and it was a position that her father was too eager to give up.

A rumbling grabbed Jack’s attention and looking down the road, he spotted the bus. Slinging his duffel up on his shoulder, Jack tossed the bag onto the seat beside him and turned his attention back to his Omni-tool. The heads-up blinked a few times and Jack pulled open his messages. Speaking of the devil, it was from Silvia.

_“Hey,_

_Heard that you’re starting bootcamp today. Dad told me to wish you luck. Says you’re gonna need it. Will talk later._

_Silvia.”_

Jack typed a quick reply before he put his earphones in and drifted off into his own head for the rest of the bus trip. Sydney Spaceport soon came into view and Jack looked around. The spaceport was as busy as ever but what always caught Jack’s attention was the massive statue of his father, holding a flag over a dead reaper. John Shepard wasn’t a vain man and when the concept of the statue first came up, John had tried his best to crush the idea. Jack’s father never liked being the poster child for the Alliance and thought that the statue was incredibly selfish and dismissive towards the friends that he had lost during the war. Despite being part of the senior Alliance council, John’s pleas had been ignored and the statue was erected as a way of boosting morale. Every time that Jack and his family would pass the statue when he was younger, John would twist his face in disgust and Miranda would make a joke that they never got the face right.

The bus came to a sluggish stop and Jack climbed off. Spotting the Alliance ship, Jack walked over, gave his name and climbed aboard. There were Krogan, Turians, humans, and Quarians aboard. After the reaper war, the systems alliance started recruiting members from all species into their numbers. It was a welcome change in John’s eyes and one he was happy to see. A smile broke across Jack’s face when he saw two familiar faces sitting down at the back of the shuttle. Urdnot Bruxious or ‘Bucky’ as Jack knew him and Phoebe Vakarian. Considering how close their parents are, Jack Phoebe and Bucky were almost like cousins growing up. As thick as thieves. Phoebe smiled when she saw Jack and hugged him. Bucky went to bear hug Jack but ended up holding him up over his head. Phoebe pressed her hand up against her face to try and hide her obvious amusement, but Jack knew her too well and knew that she was doing a poor job of it. Bucky eventually left Jack down and Jack gave him a slight jolt from his engineer’s gauntlet. Bucky ran around the shuttle to run the shock off and then returned the favour by giving Jack a dead arm. Phoebe decided to sit between Jack and Bucky before they broke into a full-on fighting match.

As Jack was waiting for the shuttle to take off, he stared out through a window. In the crowd outside, he thought he saw his mother. Leaving the shuttle for a minute, Jack was left speechless as Miranda came into view in the crowd. Jack walked up to his mother and stood before her, neither of them able to say a word. Eventually, Miranda broke the awkwardness when she wrapped her arms around her son and pulled him close. Jack hugged his mother back. Miranda slowly ran her hand through Jack’s hair.

    “I’m sorry for how I was acting back at home. If this will make you happy, and knowing your father it will, then go and join up. There will always be a bed and a shoulder to cry on for you when you come home. I just wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let you go off without saying good luck.”

   “Shouldn’t it be goodbye?”

  “No! Good luck. Goodbye is too final.”

   “Thanks Mom. I’m sorry for being a stubborn bastard.”

   “You are your father’s son. If you weren’t, I’d be worried.”

Suddenly, the officer at the shuttle started calling for everyone to get on board. The shuttle was about to leave. Jack gave his mother another hug, and Miranda replied in kind. Quickly pressing a kiss to Jack’s forehead, Miranda waved to him as Jack boarded the shuttle, his face a stark red. Phoebe again tried to supress her laughter, only to fail. Bucky soon followed, and Jack just ignored them. Staring out the window at his mother, Jack waved as the shuttle took off and the image of his mother got smaller and smaller.

After they stopped laughing, Jack, Phoebe, and Bucky chatted together. The trip to the Arcturus Training facility didn’t last long and the three friends soon found themselves standing at attention inside of a huge hall. The hall was a pristine white with the Alliance insignia printed along the walls. Soon someone walked out onto the stage and Jack recognised him immediately. Sure, there were a few more grey hairs than Jack could remember, but it was James Vega.

   “Alright, welcome to the Alliance Navy. My name is Captain James Vega and I will be in charge of getting each and every one of you here before me, into fighting shape. The training will be hard and arduous, and a few of you may leave, but if you persevere and battle through it, you will be a part of one of the best and strongest military forces in the galaxy. Now, before official registration I would like to welcome someone onto the stage. A personal friend and mentor, and someone that I fought under during the Reaper war…”

   “Ah shit….” Jack thought

   “Admiral John Shepard.”

The hall burst into cheers as Jack saw his father walk out onto the stage. While Vega was starting to show signs of getting on in his life, John still looked younger than the captain, despite being older than him. Jack could remember one day being very curious about the fact and he went and asked his parents about it. As much as she could, Miranda tried explaining to the then thirteen-year-old that it was because of the cybernetics that she had grafted to John’s body during Project Lazarus. Skipping over the fact that she had brought John back from the dead so that she wouldn’t scare Jack, Miranda explained that she simply made small improvements to John to help him fight better. It wasn’t until Jack was older and began snooping through his mother’s study that he learned the truth.

Jack looked up and somehow managed to lock eyes with his father. Years of military training taught John how to hide his emotions behind a mask, but nineteen years with the man taught Jack how to see through that mask towards the person underneath, and Jack noticed the smallest smile appear on his father’s face. The hall broke into cheers again and Jack realised that he was stuck so far in his own head that he missed his father’s entire speech. John soon left the stage and Captain Vega soon took his place once again on the podium.

“Well then recruits, welcome to Bootcamp!”


End file.
